Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Jul 29, 2024 23:35:38 GMT
Olympics volunteers resign over lack of Covid-19 precautions - Published July 29, 2024
Earlier this month, a group of Olympic volunteers demanded Covid-19 precautions at the 2024 Paris Olympics, stating they would resign if precautions weren’t implemented.
“Covid-19 pandemic threat denial is not an antidote to contamination,” the volunteers wrote in a press release. “If no steps are taken, we will collectively resign from our assignments, and will not show up on the Olympic and Paralympic sites we have been staffed.”
Since their statement was issued on July 15, the group has not received a response from the 2024 Olympic organizers, a member of the group told The Sick Times in a phone interview. The volunteer, Thomas, who wished to omit his last name, said the group had around one hundred members, some of whom have already resigned.
More than 10,000 athletes arrived this month in Paris and a handful had already tested positive for Covid-19 prior to the games’ start on July 26, including five members of the women’s Australian water polo team. Around 15 million people are predicted to travel to Paris, including 2 million international travelers, at a time when the country is seeing an increase in Covid-19 cases, according to World Health Organization spokesperson Margaret Harris.
Still, organizers and teams continue to downplay the spread of the disease. Australian team chief Anna Meares told Reuters: “I need to emphasize that we are treating Covid no differently to other bugs like the flu.”
Covid-19, however, is far more deadly than the flu and can cause Long Covid, a multi-systemic disease impacting millions around the world that does not have any approved treatments.
The volunteers’ demand comes after the multi-week cycling race, the Tour De France, reinstated a mask requirement earlier this month following a rise in Covid-19 cases across the country. Race organizers required this safety measure in the final week of the three-week race, as some racers withdrew because of their infections. Champion Tajed Pogačar, who got Covid-19 before the race, recently pulled out of the Olympics, citing “extreme fatigue.”
The group calling for precautions at the Olympics, Volontaires Inquiets Paris 2024 (meaning “concerned volunteers”), is composed of around a hundred volunteers, some of whom have voiced their concerns about Covid-19 as early as March 2024, volunteer Thomas said. The group includes “young and old, disabled and non-disabled” volunteers, their press release states.
“We want basic precautions, measures we’ve implemented over the past four years,” Thomas said. “We know these work and are validated by science. Why aren’t they being used?”
The group demands mask requirements, testing, clean air, and other precautionary measures to protect volunteers, athletes, and the millions of others who have traveled to Paris for the event. Without these precautions, many people will likely get Covid-19 and some could develop Long Covid, Thomas said.
“We’ve had some examples of athletes dropping out of competition over the last four years,” Thomas said. “We know [Covid-19] can affect anyone.”
The long-term effects of Covid-19 have barred professional athletes from competing in the Olympics in the past, including American high jumper Priscilla Loomis and British rower Oonagh Cousins. Both were unable to compete in the 2021 Tokyo games after developing Long Covid.
“People who are young and healthy, who exercise, they don’t think they’re going to get [Long Covid],” Cousins said to CNN in 2021. “It’s important that whoever gets the virus, just be really careful.”
While some volunteers have officially resigned, citing the lack of Covid-19 prevention, others have “quietly quit,” Thomas said. He hopes the Olympic organizers confront the reality of Covid-19, and said they still have time to make changes for the games, as well as the Paralympics, which take place later this summer in September.
“We call for the responsibility of Paris 2024 and its partners and sponsors, to take quick and resolute action to tackle seriously the threat of mass-contamination,” the group’s press release states.
“We are not willing to risk our own health, nor the health of our relatives, of the athletes, of the public, and the people [who] live and work in Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis.”
All articles by The Sick Times are available for other outlets to republish free of charge. We request that you credit us and link back to our website.
Earlier this month, a group of Olympic volunteers demanded Covid-19 precautions at the 2024 Paris Olympics, stating they would resign if precautions weren’t implemented.
“Covid-19 pandemic threat denial is not an antidote to contamination,” the volunteers wrote in a press release. “If no steps are taken, we will collectively resign from our assignments, and will not show up on the Olympic and Paralympic sites we have been staffed.”
Since their statement was issued on July 15, the group has not received a response from the 2024 Olympic organizers, a member of the group told The Sick Times in a phone interview. The volunteer, Thomas, who wished to omit his last name, said the group had around one hundred members, some of whom have already resigned.
More than 10,000 athletes arrived this month in Paris and a handful had already tested positive for Covid-19 prior to the games’ start on July 26, including five members of the women’s Australian water polo team. Around 15 million people are predicted to travel to Paris, including 2 million international travelers, at a time when the country is seeing an increase in Covid-19 cases, according to World Health Organization spokesperson Margaret Harris.
Still, organizers and teams continue to downplay the spread of the disease. Australian team chief Anna Meares told Reuters: “I need to emphasize that we are treating Covid no differently to other bugs like the flu.”
Covid-19, however, is far more deadly than the flu and can cause Long Covid, a multi-systemic disease impacting millions around the world that does not have any approved treatments.
The volunteers’ demand comes after the multi-week cycling race, the Tour De France, reinstated a mask requirement earlier this month following a rise in Covid-19 cases across the country. Race organizers required this safety measure in the final week of the three-week race, as some racers withdrew because of their infections. Champion Tajed Pogačar, who got Covid-19 before the race, recently pulled out of the Olympics, citing “extreme fatigue.”
The group calling for precautions at the Olympics, Volontaires Inquiets Paris 2024 (meaning “concerned volunteers”), is composed of around a hundred volunteers, some of whom have voiced their concerns about Covid-19 as early as March 2024, volunteer Thomas said. The group includes “young and old, disabled and non-disabled” volunteers, their press release states.
“We want basic precautions, measures we’ve implemented over the past four years,” Thomas said. “We know these work and are validated by science. Why aren’t they being used?”
The group demands mask requirements, testing, clean air, and other precautionary measures to protect volunteers, athletes, and the millions of others who have traveled to Paris for the event. Without these precautions, many people will likely get Covid-19 and some could develop Long Covid, Thomas said.
“We’ve had some examples of athletes dropping out of competition over the last four years,” Thomas said. “We know [Covid-19] can affect anyone.”
The long-term effects of Covid-19 have barred professional athletes from competing in the Olympics in the past, including American high jumper Priscilla Loomis and British rower Oonagh Cousins. Both were unable to compete in the 2021 Tokyo games after developing Long Covid.
“People who are young and healthy, who exercise, they don’t think they’re going to get [Long Covid],” Cousins said to CNN in 2021. “It’s important that whoever gets the virus, just be really careful.”
While some volunteers have officially resigned, citing the lack of Covid-19 prevention, others have “quietly quit,” Thomas said. He hopes the Olympic organizers confront the reality of Covid-19, and said they still have time to make changes for the games, as well as the Paralympics, which take place later this summer in September.
“We call for the responsibility of Paris 2024 and its partners and sponsors, to take quick and resolute action to tackle seriously the threat of mass-contamination,” the group’s press release states.
“We are not willing to risk our own health, nor the health of our relatives, of the athletes, of the public, and the people [who] live and work in Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis.”
All articles by The Sick Times are available for other outlets to republish free of charge. We request that you credit us and link back to our website.